alternatehistory.com

Howdy.

As everyone on this board knows, this Saturday marks the 20th anniversary of the worst act of school violence and the worst mass murder/terrorism incident (1) in American history (until, of course, the tragic events of 9/11 (2)). On April 20th, 1999, two students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, detonated two propane bombs in the cafeteria of Columbine High, killing 241 students and injuring 250 others, as well as partially collapsing the library above into the cafeteria. Other bombs were meant to kill other students and divert attention from Columbine High School. As students were fleeing the school, Klebold and Harris opened fire on them, killing 21 more and injuring 50 others before they were, in turn, engaged by arriving Littleton police officers, who killed Klebold and Harris.

So, WI the propane bombs hadn't gone off as planned? Would there still be a School Security Act of 1999 passed in Congress (probably the only time Clinton, the House, and the Senate agreed on something at this point IOTL)? I remember them building the security improvements at my high school in Corpus Christi, but I graduated before they were put into use (I'm a member of the Class of 2000)...

(1) The previous one being the Oklahoma City bombing four years earlier.
(2) ObWI: WI Clinton doesn't begin implementing security recommendations in 2000? This was thought to be a side effect of the revelation that Harris and Klebold planned on hijacking a plane and crashing it into New York City, as well as the thwarted LAX attack; this is thought to have been the impetus for the strengthening of cockpit doors and security at airports, among other things, which stopped the hijackers at Dulles and on United Flight 93...

(OOC: What happened on United Flight 93? Basically, United Airlines Flight 93 was one of the first planes to have a strengthened cockpit door ITTL, which prevented the hijackers from entering the cockpit (similar to American Airlines Flight 77 in @RySenkari's 9/11 post; that was the inspiration for this), so Flight 93 manages to land at Pittsburgh International ITTL; interestingly enough, the captain of United Flight 93, Jason Dahl, had his last place of residence in Littleton, Colorado...)
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